Midnight Faces

Some think that silent films are by nature, inferior. I would not buy that in a million years. Some of my favorite films have been done by great directors of the silent era. That said, like with modern films, there are clinkers along the way. I consider this to be one of them. It is out of the Old Dark House tradition. Unfortunately, it's plot is silly, the characters are cardboard cutouts of real people, and it is filled with racism. Once again, the black servant is beyond ridiculous, probably because it was the only part available to him. There is a ridiculous fight that last about ten minutes, killing time so we can't mercifully get to the end. Don't bother yourself with this one.

Now, many people claim that "Midnight Faces" (!926), which was released very shortly after "The Bat", which is regarded today as the precursor of all the great classic mystery movies of the 30s, was in a way an 'imitation' - and yet (taking NOTHING away from "The Bat": it IS an absolute masterpiece!), "Midnight Faces" at this early stage ALSO contains about ALL the necessary ingredients for a really great, scary and at the same time entertaining mystery: an isolated old mansion, without electric light, of course, dark figures creeping through the hallways, shadows on the walls, a mysterious Asian hiding in the garden, a damsel in distress - and a Mantan Moreland-style secretary for the comical relief!

Besides, the plot is VERY clever and twisted, with a REAL surprise ending; and the acting is marvelous and quite natural for the time: starring young Francis X. Bushman Jr., the son of THE matinée idol of the 1910s, and pretty Kathryn McGuire whom we first pity and then suspect, "Midnight Faces", which has been overshadowed by "The Bat" for so long (and over the years almost sunken into oblivion), surely is another one of the GREAT forerunners of this wonderful classic mystery genre, and I think it does deserve more attention by classic movie buffs as well as by critics!

In the 1920s through the 1930s, Hollywood made quite a few old dark house movies--ones which have very, very similar plots involving a group of people stuck in a place with some maniacs. In light of this, "Midnight Faces" already has a major strike against against it. Just a few similar films would include "The Old Dark House", "The Cat and The Canary". "The Bat", "The Black Cat", "The Bat Whispers" and even comedies such as Harry Langdon in "The First Hundred Years", Buster Keaton in "The Haunted House" and Bob Hope in "Ghost Breakers"--and I'm sure I could come up with quite a few others if I tried!

This film finds out hero inheriting an old estate in Florida. However, when he, his friend and his black man-servant (thrown in for comic relief) near the home, they think they see something moving inside. Once they take possession, some of the dead uncle's old servants arrive and they are a bizarre assortment of stereotypes--including a supposed Chinese man who look like he's just walked off a Fu Manchu film set! At night, trouble erupts and it's up to the leading man and his friends to get to the bottom of it. Much of it didn't make much sense until the very end--when the long and complicated plot is explained--including what REALLY happened to the uncle. There were a few surprises but all in all, the movie seemed terribly derivative--just like the many other similar films I've seen. It's pleasant enough but nothing special.

By the way, one sour note in the film is the black servant. While he didn't over-react as badly as some black men in these films did, all too often they were included as a cheap laugh. Back then, white folks though it was hilarious to see a black man act cowardly and scared in these films. This role, like most of the films listed above, was present in this film but fortunately his performance wasn't as over the top or offensive as most--but it still wasn't necessary.

A quickie of some interest, despite (or maybe because) of its similarity to both The Bat (a sensational success on the Broadway stage when it debuted in 1920 and ran for a colossal 878 performances at the Morosco) and The Cat and the Canary, an obvious imitator which opened on Broadway in 1922 and ran for 349 performances at the National. Perhaps even more to the point, the much publicized film version of The Bat had its New York premiere on 14 March 1926. And just eleven days later, Midnight Faces made its appearance. Co-incidence? Hardly.

Midnight Faces has all the standard ingredients of the creepy old house horror mystery, including clutching hands from a shadowy cloaked assassin who uses secret passages to make his escapes, a frightened heroine, stalwart hero, personable friend and comic butler. The house is sufficiently large and cavernously gloomy to lend color to the proceedings, and the pace is nothing if not brisk. It's good to see a young Jack Perrin in civvies as the ingratiating friend, while an equally youthful Bushman alertly holds down the role of the hero. Cohn (or Cohen, he was never quite sure how to spell his name) has directed with reasonable flair, though film editor Fred Bain has obviously had his work cut out to paper over some slips in continuity.

This melodrama finds itself changing in tone throughout, from mystery to comedy to romance to horror, and fails on all counts to produce a reasonable degree of entertainment. Set in, on and about a deserted house in Florida's Bayou region, the plot involves inheritance of the house by Lynn Claymore, (Francis X Bushman, Jr.) from an uncle of whom he was unaware and his arrival at the property to take possession, while having to deal with a hotchpotch of odd characters, each of whom presents an unknown agenda. These include a damsel in apparent distress, played by Kathryn McGuire, a favorite leading lady of Buster Keaton, a lawyer, a Chinaman, a negro valet, a united and sinister butler and housekeeper, a paralytic gentleman, and others. In addition, the influence of a cloaked individual must be mentioned, as he is continually skulking about, disappearing into secret passages, and generally making the rest of the cast quite uneasy. The valet is played by Martin Turner who must have influenced Eddie (Rochester) Anderson's style, as the latter's mannerisms are virtually interchangeable with those of the whimsical Turner, upon whose scenes one becomes increasingly willing to invest attention, as they are a welcome shift from the preposterous and cliche-beholden script. The editing is indifferent at best, with some scenes being switched in continuity, and the direction by Bennett Cohen is by the numbers. Those minutes when Bushman, and Jack Perrin as the probate lawyer, are alone and in conversation are effective due to their relaxed rapport and, if there were more of such, the grotesquerie would have been more palatable. The film includes a most quaint fight sequence with the large and athletic Bushman having an extraordinarily difficult time in subduing a somewhat unprepossessing rival, with the action, because of odd editing, continuing for about 20 minutes, while the other players remain determined to go about their business. The engagingly original and motific score is played in witty fashion at the Wurlitzer by the talented Rosa Rio, who began her career in the 1920s in large theatres about New York and who achieved widespread and national acclaim for her musicality as accompanist to silent cinema. Her contribution and the efforts by Turner are not enough aid in suppressing feelings of ennui for most viewers of this cartoonish mishmash.